25,793 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Acquired by Hall Capital Management Co. Inc.

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 25,793 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,883,000. Alphabet makes up 2.3% of Hall Capital Management Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burt Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

Alphabet stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $172.36. 34,438,063 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,799,500. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50-day moving average price is $158.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.